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A Chanukah Noel

A True Story
by Sharon Jennings
24p. 978-1-89718-774-6.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2—When Charlotte and her parents move "across the ocean" to France, she finds it hard to adjust to life in a small village, especially when Colette teases her about her bad French. At Christmastime, Charlotte is jealous of all the village activities—her family is Jewish and is lighting a menorah for Chanukah—so when she learns that Colette is very poor, she convinces her parents to give Colette's family a tree and other Christmas trappings, thus spreading and sharing the joy of the season. This quiet and charming slice of life, which assumes a basic knowledge of both holidays, shares enough details (chocolate on a baguette as a school snack) to give readers a flavor of Charlotte's new life. The attractive, realistic paintings depict a timeless French village—this story might take place now or several decades ago. A fine cross-cultural choice for larger collections.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Intrigued by the Christmas preparations in her new French town, Charlotte wants to participate--but learns that her family will observe Chanukah instead. Bringing presents and food to a poor classmate, however, Charlotte gets the best of "Christmas and Chanukah together." The text is a little wordy and the muted illustrations somewhat dreary for an otherwise optimistic tale of compassion and celebration.
Reviewed by Eva Mitnick , Oct 01, 2010

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